THE GOAN NETWORK
PANAJI
Local opposition erupted on Sunday against the government’s decision to set up the permanent campus of IIT Goa at Farmagudi with villagers converging at the revered Katamgal Dada shrine to voice their protest.
The gathering, held under the “Save Katamgal” campaign, saw traditional garane performed as a mark of resistance.
The protesters alleged that survey markers for the proposed campus had been placed within the sacred precincts of the shrine and warned that the project would damage a traditional mango grove and erode the area’s cultural heritage.
Activists from across Goa joined the protest, alongside St Andre MLA Viresh Borkar, and speakers reiterated that the campus should not come up at Farmagudi due to religious, cultural and environmental concerns.
The protest comes close on the heels of the Union Ministry of Education’s approval of the site earlier this month. The ministry’s Site Selection Committee inspected the location and cleared it on June 11.
The ministry then asked the Goa government to complete formalities and transfer the land at the earliest.
The ministry had relaxed the earlier requirement of 10 lakh square metres of land for setting up the campus, following a request from the State government. This has paved the way for reconsidering smaller, more feasible land parcels for the project.
Subsequently, the State Cabinet approved the transfer of five lakh square metres of government land at Farmagudi to the Union Ministry of Education. The decision was hailed as a breakthrough in resolving the long pending search for a permanent IIT Goa campus.
Notably, IIT Goa has been operating from the same site with a temporary campus shared with Goa Engineering College (GEC) at Farmagudi since July 2016 and eight batches of graduates have already passed out. The globally acclaimed IIT Bombay mentored the Goa IIT in the first three academic years.
Earlier proposed sites at Loliem (Canacona), Melauli (Sattari), Cotarli (Sanguem) and Codar (Ponda) were dropped following strong protests by locals. Other locations such as Rivona (Sanguem) and Dharbandora were also set aside due to difficulties in land acquisition.
The prolonged delay in securing a permanent campus has affected the institute’s expansion plans. IIT Goa has missed out on key research and infrastructure grants, including additional funding announced by the Union Ministry of Education for newer IITs established after 2014.
Sunday’s protest, meanwhile, marks yet another setback in the decade long saga of the hunt for a permanent campus.
